Frigid digits.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that Sunday was our first time at the Thoiry Sunday market in months. We've been traveling so much since September that every chance we seem to get to just be at home on a weekend we've leapt at the opportunity.

But not this dimanche. At a whopping -11c we bundled up in multiple layers (four layers for me...I felt a bit like the younger brother on a Christmas Story)...

...and hit the rue. It was a small market this week as I think a lot of the vendors are on holiday, or maybe were just deterred by the cold...

It was really nice to catch up with our favorite vendors, as I know both Doc and I have missed our weekly Sunday banter with them...

...and it's been too long since we've been called "les amoreuse..."

{Tulips in hiding.}

What made my day you ask? Our flower lady gave me a bouquet of tulips for 2 euro instead of 3,50 euro. (It's the little things in life...) I think she missed us. Thank you Thoiry Flower Lady!

And about this cold? It's kind of funny how the media is doing hour long specials on it, multiple days in a row. Yes, it's cold. But it's not Chicago cold, though it's gotten close a few times. It's February people, it's supposed to be cold. And it's supposed to snow.

I think my favorite headline has been been from faux news show "Le Petit Journal" that said, "Breaking News: Il neige en hiver!" (Which translates to something like, "it snows in winter!")

{Don't fret, they perked up.}

Breaking news for one and all indeed. Luckily Doc and I are big fans of the cold, so after our cold walk to and from the market we had some percolator coffee and a Sunday feast, just like the good ole' days.  

Hope you're bundled up with a warm cup of coffee in your part of the world, because that's what I'm about to do in mine!

A la prochaine friends...

 

Honey

Dang you tall Hancock...

Yep, that's it - the Hancock Tower. You can just barely see the tall antenna like thing at the top. I've had the pleasure of having drinks on two occasions with some amazing people at the 97th (or is it 98th?) floor, and aside from the hefty drink tab it's a really cool experience. I think the elevator ride takes about 30 or so seconds, and my ears popped about halfway up. The views are incredible, as are the nuncing and stink-eye involved glances required to score a seat by the window wall. Luckily this falls within my skill set. We were downtown for other reasons today however, all being the hopeful returns of several Swiss and French visas. We came back to our place victorious in what was an unheard of victory: a french visa obtained over the counter. I'm told that Manbearpig sightings are more common than this event. Had it not happened, we would have been waiting on bated breathe in hopes that it was mailed to us before we left the states. Sometimes things all fall apart and every once in awhile they all fall into place. With how stressful the last few weeks/months have been I'll take it.

Have I mentioned it's cold here? Really, really really freaking cold? The only colder temperatures I've felt were in Omaha over Christmas and New Year's where temps at night dropped to -15 degrees F. Midwest cold is a whole 'nother brand of beast.

T minus 2 weeks until the big move. Were both beyond exhausted at this point, as I think is pretty dang obvious in this picture. We haven't stopped to breathe since at least Thanksgiving, and I'm just hoping we have the chance to slow down a little bit once we've moved over and gotten over the jet lag.